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Schools train us out of the habits of creativity

Last week, I noted a very interesting interview by Guy Kawasaki with Scott Berkun, author of a recently released book called The Myths of Innovation. It hit a hot button that got quite a spirited conversation going on the Swamp Fox Insights blog.

One of the highlights of the interview for me was a quote that, "the problem is most schools and organizations train us out of the habits [of creativity]." This reminded me of Sir Ken Robinson's observation that, "we’re now running educational systems where mistakes are the worst things you can make. The result is that we are educating people out of their creative capacity." And of Bill Gates who said, "America’s high schools are obsolete... – even when they’re working exactly as designed – [they] cannot teach our kids what they need to know today."

Well education always gets people's juices flowing, I guess because it so personal, and this was no exception.

Kerry Neubrander challenged the notion that schools train kids out of creativity. "It certainly sounds compelling. A lot of people want to believe it. But is it actually true?"" He went on to ask, "Has this ever actually been demonstrated in a well-designed study."

Evan Tishuk felt this is an organizational issue: "Many (most?) organizations larger than, say, 150 people are encumbering their lead dogs and promoting stifling cultural norms."

Clemson Professor Steve Stevenson observed that, "One of the reasons behind Clemson's "creative inquiry" initiative is to address the fact that students have become fact regurgitators. One of my PhD students just completed his dissertation... [and found] five pieces [to creative inquiry]: creativity, critical thinking, reasoning, content mastery, and problem-solving. K-12 and universities only push content. We tested successful computer scientists in government, military, business, and academe: all were superior critical thinkers."

An anonymous poster who had been a substitute teacher "was astonished at what those students were not equipped to do, ... [yet has] confidence in American youth. When pressed with the right leadership, they will adapt and their creativity will break forth."

Another anonymous poster who had been an A student observed that, "A-students teach, and B-students work for C-students. I am a former A-student who now consults and trains. The entrepreneurs I know were not the A-students."

And finally Joe Schmid noted, "Invention and Innovation are two very different things. Applied Creativity can be taught in the classroom (the processes, thinking, tools, etc.). This learning can be successfully leveraged to increase the output of Inventions – novel unique ideas. No school or organization trains us out of creativity. Balancing Freedom and Order is a difficult. Without order there is chaos. Order is essential for organization sustainability. Personal denial is a cozy way to be too. Learning to step-up and work within the boundaries of order isn’t that hard, it’s just easier not to and transfer blame to someone/something else."

I think the crisis in education is the most important issue of our times having the most direct impact on whether we will continue to be globally competitive in the future. I have no doubt that Ken Robinson is right that schools systematically drive creativity out of students. This is exacerbated by high stake tests, like the PACT and the SAT, that force teachers to emphasize absorbing and then regurgitating select facts versus critical thinking.

What is wrong with a system that takes the fidgety kid - the one whose mind races but who can connect disparate thoughts in novel ways - and labels that kid as having a disorder like ADHD and tells his parents to put him on medicine so he can calm down and conform? If that kid is lucky, he'll survive the system long enough to find a place where he can thrive. Some of the most successful we'll call entrepreneurs. Too many though, 30% to 50% depending on who's measuring, drop out labeled as failures and never recover.

If schools were truly about developing the creative potential of their students, they’d put as much emphasis on the arts as they do on the sciences. We'd challenge students to explore Mozart or Van Gogh as much as calculus and chemistry. Some kids who would otherwise drop out would find themselves in the arts, and we'd have better mathematicians too. This is part of Bill Gates' issue that even if our high schools worked as designed they're obsolete.

Our complacency about creating a world class education system is like boiling a frog. If you put a frog in a pot of water and turn up the heat slowly enough, by the time the frog realizes it has a problem it is too late. Right now the water in our education system is simmering, and while we are fiddling at the edges of our existing education system, there does not seem to be a sense of urgency to reinvent the system so that it is preparing our kids for the diverse, global, fast paced world in which they will live and compete.

Am I being too harsh on our education system? Not harsh enough? Do you think this is a problem? If so how do we create a sense of urgency to do something about it? The solution might as well start right here.

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